ROCKFORD — Frank Pobjecky was helpless as a masked gunman pointed a .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver at his face.

It was after 10 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2011.

Pobjecky had been watching a boxing match on HBO with friend and Marie’s Pizza operator Vincenzo Tarara, he testified on Thursday, when three masked men stormed into the business. Michael D. Sago Jr., 16, served as a lookout outside the entrance.

An off-duty Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputy keenly aware he was unarmed, Pobjecky’s heart sunk as the assailant held the gun 12 inches from his head.

“I could tell it was a real gun and I knew instantly that my life was in danger,” Pobjecky said. “I was expecting to be shot in the face.”

The last of the Marie’s Pizza suspects to go to trial, Brandon L. Sago, 24, has pleaded not guilty to felony first-degree murder charges in the death of Sago Jr. before Judge Gary Pumilia.

A jury on Thursday heard Pobjecky recount how he and Tarara turned the tables on the assailants.

When the smoke cleared, Pobjecky had shot all four assailants and Sago Jr. was dead.

The gunman, Lamar O. Coates, 25, — serving a 40-year sentence for felony murder in Sago Jr.’s death — was dying on the pizzeria floor with a bullet wound to the throat and likely survived because Pobjecky worked to keep him alive.

Desmond Bellmon, who has already pleaded guilty to felony murder, was shot before he escaped the restaurant.

Pobjecky earned an Illinois State Police Law Enforcement Medal of Honor in 2012, the highest available honor for law enforcement in Illinois, for his actions that night.

But Sago’s public defender, Nick Zimmerman, on Thursday questioned whether the shooting was justified. In an attempt to plant doubt in the minds of jurors about whether the shootings were necessary, Zimmerman asked pointed questions.

Pobjecky said that, months later, when he watched security camera footage of the incident, he could see that after he shot at a man who had charged at him, the others appeared to be scrambling for the exit as they were shot.

But Pobjecky also told Zimmerman that without the benefit of instant replay, he determined the assailants represented a deadly threat throughout the entire incident that lasted only minutes. Pobjecky said he didn’t have any way to know if the men were fleeing or attempting to retrieve another gun.

When they entered the restaurant, Pobjecky was sitting at a break room table where he had been watching the fights on television with Tarara.

He had gone to the Charles Street pizzeria across from Lincoln Middle School to buy pizza for his sister’s family and socialize with friends.

The men stormed into the restaurant and took up strategic positions, security camera footage shows.

Coates put a gun in Tarara’s face. Tarara considered going for the Glock he wears holstered on his hip most workdays, concealed by his shirt. He decided against it.

When Tarara resisted the gunman’s demands to hand over money from the cash register, Coates turned the gun on Pobjecky.

“Give me the money,” Coates screamed. “Give me the money!”

Pobjecky encouraged Tarara to give him money.

Coates was becoming more agitated with every passing moment. When Tarara appeared to turn toward the kitchen instead of the cash register after saying he would hand the money over, Coates rammed the gun into Tarara’s chest again and again, yelling for money, Pobjecky testified.

Tarara grabbed hold of the man’s Smith & Wesson revolver with both hands and fell to the floor in a desperate struggle for the weapon.

Prosecutors say Bellmon and Sago joined the fight for the gun.

Pobjecky knew Tarara’s habit of carrying the Glock at work. Still seated, he leaned forward and lifted Tarara’s shirt, praying the gun was there.

“I was praying he had the gun on him because... our only hope for survival was Vince’s weapon,” Pobjecky said.

One of the assailants saw Pobjecky going for the gun on Tarara’s hip and began to fight him for it.

“There were five people fighting for two guns,” Pobjecky said.

Pobjecky managed to push the assailant away and turn his back because when he got hold of the gun, the entire holster came with it. He freed the gun from the holster and pivoted back to the assailants. He opened fire on one who charged him.

He testified that he shot at a fourth assailant — Sago Jr. — as he entered the restaurant and continued to shoot at him as scrambled back out the door along with Bellmon and Sago.

“I didn’t know who had the gun at that moment and so every armed robbery suspect was a deadly threat,” Pobjecky said.

Pobjecky emptied the clip. He felt helplessness again as he realized the clip was empty. He locked the door and asked a delivery driver to call 911.

A U.S. Army veteran who served two tours of combat duty in Iraq from September 2002 to September 2006, Pobjecky said he has been in his share of battles.

“That’s the closest I’ve ever been to death,” Pobjecky said.

Jeff Kolkey: 815-987-1374; jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

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